The Day We Squared Off

So we’ve been at this crazy project for 10 weeks now and let me tell ya, we are TIRED. Coming to work an hour early every Wednesday morning is really getting to us, and it’s quite noticeable when some of us (yes, me) spend a good part of build day laying around the shop on track mats. If you haven’t checked out Speedway’s track mats yet (here!), I’d highly recommend one if you’re up for a good afternoon snooze in the garage.

While #cuteasabucket and I took notes, snapped photos, and ‘rested’, #bucketbetty, #tinyT, and #hotwheelhoney made headway on the rest of the T. After seeing how much sand we still had left in the pumpkin last week, we started out our day by borrowing a Shop Vac and air bubble from our friends in the maintenance department. #bucketbetty and #tinyT vacuumed, blew air, vacuumed, blew air, and vacuumed some more. They got the majority of the sand out, but decided a quick spray of brake cleaner wouldn’t hurt to make sure it was completely cleaned out. After reading the directions and warnings on the back of the can, #bucketbetty was the only one brave enough to take on the dangerous task.

While #bucketbetty finished cleaning out the pumpkin, #tinyT won the award for ‘Smartest Builder’ this week. We got the body back from paint last week and it’s just been hangin’ out in our garage area. With sand a flyin’ and brake cleaner a sprayin’, #tinyT thought it would be best to cover our freshly painted ‘Plum Crazy’ body with protective blankets. WHICH, is probably for the better anyway- One of us (I’m not going to name names) likes to run into things and the body is more likely to stay safe under some sort of shielding.

What did we learn this week? We learned how to ‘square off’ the frame, which means adjusting the hairpin so each side is equal lengths. What else did we learn? Squaring off the frame means A LOT of measuring! Thank goodness #cuteasbucket and #hotwheelhoney know their way around a tape measure!

Until today, we (embarrassingly) had no idea if we had Chevy or Ford Spindles on our front end. Thanks to Speedway’s helpful tech articles, we were able to distinguish exactly what we had! You can learn more here too! We were a little thrown off at first – our trusty T-Bucket manual said that our draglink and tie rod lengths should be at the “nominal length” 29.5” and 46”, respectively. If you’re wondering what “nominal length” is – you’re not alone. Turns out – in this case – it’s center to center. Easy peasy. Ours were measuring at 30” and 45.6”, but after a couple of adjustments, we were right on target.

Since we had applied paint to our calipers in weeks past, #tinyT and I spent some time ripping tape off and getting them ready to install. Once they were free of all tape leftovers, #tinyT and #hotwheelhoney each took a shot at attaching their side’s caliper and brake pad. At first they had some trouble getting them on, but after some adjustment of the bearings everything fit together like peanut butter and jelly… err… puzzle pieces?